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This page was last updated at 12:07PM on April 30, 2013

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Public Service

Waitemata DHB Speech Language Therapy - Inpatients

Hours

8.00am - 4.30pm Monday to Friday

Description

What is Speech-Language Therapy?

Speech-language therapy involves the diagnosis, treatment, and management of speech, language, and swallowing problems.

Speech-language therapists (SLTs) in acute allied health are professionals who work closely with patients, families/whanau, and other health professionals (such as doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and dietitians) to assess, diagnose, and manage/rehabilitate communication and swallowing problems in the acute hospital wards. SLTs at Waitemata DHB also work closely with SLTs in rehabilitation facilities, in the community and other hospitals to ensure seamless SLT treatment and management.

Conditions that may lead to communication or swallowing problems include:

  • stroke
  • brain injury
  • degenerative conditions such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, and motor-neurone disease
  • respiratory conditions such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and recurrent pneumonia
  • cancer of the head, neck, throat, and brain.

 

Speech-language therapists at Waitemata DHB also see:

Referral Expectations

Referrals to the Acute SLT team are made by health professionals working with the patient while in hospital. If patients or families / whanau have concerns about communication or swallowing, please speak to your doctor or nurse about getting a referral.

Common Conditions

  • Aphasia

    Aphasia (also refered to as dysphasia) is a disorder of language, where a person's ability to use language to communicate is impaired in some way.… More

  • Apraxia

    Apraxia is a disorder of speech (speech is the process of pronunciation and articulation) in which the difficulty involves planning, sequencing, and producing the movements required to make sounds and words.… More

  • Dysarthria

    Dysarthria is a disorder of speech (speech is the process of pronunciation and articulation).… More

  • Dysphagia

    Dysphagia is any problem in which the action of swallowing is either difficult to perform, painful, or swallowed material is disrupted somewhere in the passage from the mouth to the stomach.… More

Website

www.waitematadhb.govt.nz

Locations Information

Choose one of the locations above for address and contact information.